Boot with ankle-hugging sleeve



Jan. 23, 1951 E. MANGOLD BOOT WITH ANKLE-HUGGING SLEEVE Filed March 25, 1947 lNVE/VTDR.

E7734)? mrbfi'ljazCz/ m 3m 9 Patented Jan. 23, 1951 BOOT WITH ANKLE-HUGGING SLEEVE Emil Mangold, Zurich, Switzerland Application March 25, 1947, Serial No. 737,018 In Switzerland November 17, 1945 Section 1, Public Law 690, August 8, 1946 Patent expires November 1'7, 1965 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a sporting boot and more particularly to a ski boot.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a boot which ensures an intimate and more or less rigid mechanical connection between the foot and the upper rim of a stiff sporting boot with hard sole, more particularly a ski boot which is held down on the ski by a diagonal pull, while permitting unhampered forward bending of the foot in the rigid boot, even to the extent required in the forward lean position adopted as a favorite position for many maneuvers in modern ski-technique.

Another object of the invention is to provide a snow-tight connection between the foot and a boot of the kind referred to and to prevent the entering of snow into the gap formed between the foot and the rear portion of the boot in case of said forward lean position or in other positions in which the foot is bent forward to an extreme position.

This gap becomes particularly wide in modern ski boots of a low height since the mouth rim of the boot must not be tightened too much to permit operation of the muscles of the wearer and to prevent choking of the blood circulation. On the other hand, however, the skier or mountaineer requires a snug fit of the upper part of the boot at the foot while at the same time he must be able to bend his legs forward to a wide extent, without formation of a gap at the rear part of the boot rim.

The novel sporting boot of the present invention permits the fulfillment of said apparently contradicting requirements. To this end, it comprise a tightening strap including fastening means and a flexible sleeve formed by a strip of leather which is secured to the rear half of the mouth rim of the boot, the upper edge of said leather strip being secured to the upper edge of the mouth rim of the boot and its lower edge being secured inside the boot in a height spaced from said upper edge at least by the width of said strap which passes through the hollow space within said sleeve and emerges through slots in i the upper so as to lie on the outside of the upper in the front half of the boot with its fastening means in said outer portion of the strap, the loose part of said leather strip between its secured edges increasing in Width from a minimum at said slots to a maximum at its rearward midzone, in such a way that by drawing taut said tightening strap, said flexible sleeve takes a substantially rectangular cross-section, with the horizontal surfaces of the rectangular sleeve forming a crescent which is substantially equal to the crescent-shaped gap formed between the foot of the wearer and the stiff rear half of said mouth rim in the extreme forwardly bent position of the foot. Thus an intimate mechanical coupling can be established between the upper rim of the boot and the foot, by drawing taut said strap and buckle means, while unimpeded bending and re-erection of the foot in the rigid boot is permitted in the longitudinal direction of the boot owing to the flexible character of the crescent-shaped sleeve bridging the variable gap formed by such bending motions between the rear half of the mouth rim of the boot and the foot. The bridge formed by the sleeve simultaneously prevents the entering of snow into said gap.

Snow usually adheres to the tongue-opening of the upper and is converted by the heat of the foot into water which penetrated into the boot. In order to obviate this, the ski boot could be provided with a tongue covering the tongue-opening and having lateral flaps which project between the lacing hOOks or lugs.

The drawing illustrates a typical embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a view of a ski boot from above,

Fig. 2 shows a detail of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale,

Fig. 3 shows a vertical section through the rear portion of the ski boot along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 shows the tongue which closes the lacing slit.

A flexible tube or sleeve 4, of thin, flexible or soft leather is sewn as a covering piece on to the edge 2 of the foot-opening of a ski boot I by means of the seams 3. For tightening purposes,

, a strap or thong 5 is drawn through the flexible sleeve 4, the ends of the strap emerging through .slits 6 in the upper and being connected by a buckle 1 for adjusting the width. 8 is a loop on the tongue 9 through which the thong 5 is also drawn so as to prevent the tongue from working down. The thong 5 is pulled so tight by means of the buckle i that it encompasses the leg without leaving a gap. Thus the flexible sleeve 4 lies close up to the leg and forms, with the latter, a complete closure for the foot-hole of the ski boot in such manner as to prevent the entr 'fof snow through the foot-hole of the boot. T

In-other words, the tube or sleeve 4 forms a hollow pocket secured to the inner face of the upper at the open top of the latter, the pocket occupying the rear zone of the upper. The pocket 3 has its greatest horizontal width in the rearward mid-zone, decreasing in such width towards its forward ends which are secured to the upper forward of slits B. As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, this maximum horizontal width is more than two centimeters or 20 percent 'ofthe total axial width of'the mouth of the boot. Th strap or thong 5 has its rear zone within the pocket in facial contact with the front wall of the pocket, the strap emerging from the pocket through slits 6. Since the upper, lower and front wall of the pocket are formed of thin, flexible or-soit leather, these pocket walls are able to assume individual formations-creases, for instance-etc compensate for various conditions. Since the strap or thong ii is itself of material width, the front wall of the pocket will conform to the contourof the strap, and. since the upper and lower walls. areof ample width, the strap will cause the front wall to tightly grip the leg zone about which the strap 1 is tightened, doing this without any material pulling strain being applied to the upper zone of the boot upper, even whenthe wearer is in the forward-lean position, the upper wall :of the pocket preventing any entrance of snowat'the top. If the wearer changes to a vertic'alposition, the upper and lower walls simply tend to fold or crease to provide'the necessary compensation while retaining the closure efiect. Hence,

the boot can be positioned and strapped while the leg-relation to the footzis atthe approximate iorward-lean relation without material change in the rear wall of the-boot, thus applying the'desired close fitiaround the leg with an assurance 'thatcomplete closure of thetop of the boot in rearof' therlegiwillbe present. While there is a complet tight closure about theleg as produced by the strap il;the leg isfree to more between'different positions due to the flexible nature of the upper and lower walls of the'pockct.

The strapor thong 5 passes out'throughslits G .in the upper, then overlies the top of the lacing zone section, and is -passed through loop in tongue :thus bridging the sides and front of the upper within this close fittingassembly, so that th top of thelacing zon will always follow the leg movements. While slits. present characteristics of an opening through which snow --might--seep, the dangerof-such seepage isvery slight, due to the formation produced-by the tightening of the strap. However, should seepage -occur, it wvould not affect the interior ofdche boot, since the seepage would extend into the -.pocket- 'c:hichwould retain any waterlthat-might develop, the slits offering a ready outlet to release the water when the boot is taken ofi.

Tongue 9 is of .usual-typewith a Width to ex- .tend beyond the lacing studs as indicatedin Fig.2, thus providing an -underlying closure for the stud openi gs. It carries loop 8 .through whichthe strap 5 extends. The advantage of this lies in the factthat since the loop extends between the sides of the. lacing slit, the tongue '9 is held firmly in position against side'movement or any downwardcreep. Consequently, the tongue is maintained in its under-closing position for the stud eyelets, thus preventing any sifting of snow therethrough.

At the bottom of the lacing slit, outside the upper, a tongue in is sewn on, this tongue has, on its longitudinal edges, projecting flaps H which engage between the lacing lugs. B means of this tongue the lacing'joint'is'covered over and'the entr of snow prevented. The flaps l I hold the tongue in its correct position. The lacelying over the tongue l0 presses the latter almost hermetically against the lacing joint.

Since the lacing slit has spaced sides, it presents the possibility of snow sifting into the boot. While the tongue 9 would tend to prevent such sifting-especially in view of the conditions pointed out above through the presence of the seal effect referred to. As will be understood, the

integrity of this closure depends upon the close overlying relation between tongue Ill and the side zones of such lacing strip. To assure such condition and its maintenance, the tongue is provided with the flaps H which, when in position, extend between adjacent lacing studs. Since the lacing strings are laced over the front face of the tongue, the tongue is held in tight contact with such'side zones, the tabs ll 'serving to prevent any creeping of the tongue downwardly, this being prevented by the location of the tabs be tween the studs. Should service conditions bring about bending of the boot in the ankle zone, the bending effect will be present in tongue H] as well, due to the presence of tabs II, but the effects will be similar in both the side zones and the tongue regardless of the direction of such bend.

When the wearer is skiing in the forwardlean position, the thong 5 ensures that the footopening of the upper is drawn forward with the leg. At the front'and back of the leg, at the points where the strap 5 is lying up against it, and also at the back of the heel, there thu arise forward-directed pressures. The boot is held, as a result of the distribution of the pressure to several points, close up against the foot or leg, and in particular at the part where it enters the boot, and round the heel. The boot is at the same time raised at the back as a result of the firm held of the thong. In the types of boots hitherto used, on the other hand, there arises, through the lack of a hold on the leg, a gap between the latter and the back of the boot-top, in addition to which the heel, on lifting, is pressed from below in a backward direction against the neighbouring part ofthe boot. The lifting of the boot, which is desirable when skiing in theforward-lean position, is not supported in any way in this latter case.

The boot described, thanks tothe-firm hold it provides in the foot-opening of the upper, makes it possible for the boot to follow the move ments of the leg whilst at the same time holding flexibly and firmly. The fact that the foot is not lifted from the inner sole make it possible to assume the correct lean-forward position required by'skiing technique. As the pressure, when the'wearer is in the forward-lean position,

1 is 'di'stributed'by the strap to three points, namely, the back and the front of the angle section, and

the heel, the forwardlean position becomes less fatiguing. In contrast to this,- the old typesof boots, in which the pressure arising from the ki boot," but While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form it is to be understood that some changes may be made in the arrangement, construction and combination of the various parts of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims such changes as may reasonabl be included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In stiff sporting boots with hard soles, a tightening strap including fastening means and a flexible sleeve formed by a strip of leather secured to the rear half of the mouth rim of the boot, the upper edge of said leather strip being secured to the upper edge of the mouth rim of the boot and its lower edge being secured inside the boot at a height substantially uniformly spaced from said upper edge at least by the width of said strap which passes through the hollow space within said sleeve and emerges through slots in the upper so as to lie on the outside of the upper in the front half of the boot with its fastening means in said outer portion of the strap, the loose part of said leather strip between its secured edges increasing in width from a minimum at said slots to a maximum at its rearward mid-zone so that by drawing taut said tightening strap said flexible sleeve takes a substantially rectangular cross-section,

with the horizontal surfaces of the sleeve each forming a crescent each of which is substantially equal to the crescent-shaped gap formed between the foot of the wearer and the stiff rear half of said mouth rim in the extreme forwardly bent position of the foot.

2. In stifi sporting boots with hard soles, a tightening strap of a material extent lengthwise of the leg, said strap including buckle means, and a flexible sleeve formed by a strip of leather secured to the rear half of the mouth rim of the boot, the upper edge of said leather strip being secured to the upper edge of the mouth rim of the boot and its lower edge being secured inside the boot at a height substantially uniformly spaced from said upper edge at least by the Width of said strap which passes through the hollow space within said sleeve and emerges through slots in the upper so as to lie on the outside of the upper in the front half of the boot with its fastening means in said outer portion of the strap, the loose part of said leather strip between its secured edges increasing in width from a minimum at said slots to a maximum at its rearward mid-zone so that by drawing taut said tightening strap said flexible sleeve takes a substantially rectangular cross-section, with the horizontal surfaces of the sleeve each forming a crescent each of which is substantially equal to the crescent-shaped gap formed between the foot of the wearer and the stiff rear half of said mouth rim in the extreme forwardly bent position of the foot, the horizontal width of the tightened sleeve being at least two centimeters at its rearward mid-portion.

3. In stifi sporting boots with hard soles, a tightening strap of a material extent lengthwise of the leg, said strap including a buckle means, and a flexible sleeve formed by a strip of leather which is secured to the rear half of the mouth rim of the boot, the upper edge of said leather strip being secured to the upper edge of the mouth rim of the boot and its lower edge being secured inside the boot at a substantially uniforml spaced from said upper edge at least by the width of said strap which passes through the hollow space within said sleeve and emerges through slots in the upper so as to lie on the outside of the upper in the front half of the boot with its fastening means in said outer portion of the strap, the loose part of said leather strip between its secured. edges increasing in width from a minimum at said slots to a maximum at its rearward mid-zone so that by drawing taut said tightening strap said flexible sleeve takes a substantially rectangular cross-section, with the horizontal surfaces of the sleeve each forming a crescent each of which is substantially equal to the crescent-shaped gap formed between the foot of the wearer and the stiff rear half of said mouth rim in the extreme forwardly bent position of the foot, the horizontal width of the tightened sleeve at the rearward mid-portion of said sleeve being at least twenty percent of the total longitudinal width of the mouth opening of the boot.

EMIL MANGOLD.

REFERENCES CITED FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Nov. '7, 1934 Number Number 

